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1933
After taking power in 1933, the Nazis had concentrated on silencing their political opponents. Once the Nazis had eliminated these enemies, they turned against other groups in Germany. -
April 7, 1933
Hitler ordered all "non-Aryans" to be removed from government jobs. This order was one of the first moves in a campaign for racial purity that eventually led to the Holocaust. -
1935
In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, jobs, and property. To make it easier for the Nazis to identify them, Jews had to wear a bright yellow Star of David attached to their clothing. -
November 9-10, 1938
November 9-19, 1938, is known as Kristallnacht, or "Night of Broken Glass". Nazi storm troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues across Germany. Around 100 Jews were killed, and hundreds more injured. some 30,000 Jews were arrested and hundreds of synagogues were burned. The Jews were blamed by the Nazis for the destruction. -
1939
Official indifference to the plight of Germany's Jews was evidence in the case of the ship St. Louis which passed Miami in 1939. Although 740 of the liner's 934 passengers has U.S. immigration papers, the Coast Guard followed the ship to prevent anyone from disembarking in America. The ship was later forced to return to Europe. More than half of the passengers were later killed in the Holocaust. -
1939
Only about a quarter million Jews remained in Germany. Obsessed with a desire to rid Europe of its Jews, Hitler imposed what he called the "Final Solution"- a policy of genocide, the deliberate and systematic killing of an entire population. -
1941
The first concentration camp, Chelmno, began operation in 1941- before the meeting at Wannsee. As many as 12,000 people could be gassed to death each day. -
1942
The Final Solution reached its final stage in early 1942. At a meeting held in Wannsee Hitler's top officials agrees to begin a new phase of the mass murder of Jews. To mass slaughter and starvation the would add a third method of killing- murder by poison gas.
